IN its bid to accord Nigeria a prideful place in the international non-oil export trade, the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has unfolded series of agricultural exports redemption packages in an attempt to shore up the nation’s reputation in global non-oil export markets.

The agency’s chief executive officer, Dr Paul B. Orhii, said he was uncomfortable with the orchestrated and seeming gang-up by developed nations against our resolve to explore alternative means of foreign exchange earnings through participation in the non-oil export trade particularly in the exportation of value added agricultural products.

The European Union member nations under the auspices of the European Food Safety Authority had recently placed a one year (July 2015 to July 2016), blanket-ban on the exportation of key value added agricultural products comprising beans, sesame seeds, melon seeds, dried fish, meat, peanut chips and palm oil emanating from Nigeria owing to what it tagged-prevalence of very high level of injurious and deadly contaminants such as mycotoxins, pesticide residues as well as abnormal level of dichlorvos pesticides (in the case of beans).

Consequently, NAFDAC has commenced frantic and very intense efforts geared towards  urgently correcting  this foreign exchange denying  economic malady. It has eventually adopted for immediate implementation, ultra-modern cutting-edge technologies for the rectification of this economic disaster so as to avoid further extension of  the hydra-headed ban upon its expiration in June 2016.

The technology based agric export solution filled package being initiated by NAFDAC under Dr Orhii will involve massive deployment/distribution of mobile motorized testing laboratories to all nooks and crannies of the nation’s 36 states and Abuja including remote farms, exportable agric products processing centers, produce market centers, sea and air ports as well as land border stations in the country.

Also to be engaged in by the agency with the aid of the yet to be deployed ultra-modern specialized mobile scientific laboratories is the intensive training/supervision of farmers, produce marketers and other stakeholders in agric export business nationwide with a view to compelling  them to comply with the rules of the game via meeting global standards specifications in this trade.

They will be furnished with the required know-how on food storage, ideal packaging practices and other relevant quality control measures. Consequently, funding for this urgent patriotically dynamic interventionist initiative amounting to a negligible token sum of about two billion naira only is being sought from the Federal Government either through outright operational grant or a repayable loan to enable this lofty bail out NAFDAC concept become a maximum reality in view of perceived urgency required by the situation to aid immediate acquisition, shipment, freight and deployment of these resourceful /ideal solution providing facilities.

Enormous benefits

Undoubtedly, this innovative technological adoptions is of enormous benefits to the nation. Aside successfully combating food contaminants/poisons, help analyze regulated products, effect on-the-spot quality assessment and monitoring of value chain agricultural exports, avoid a permanent European Union ban on Nigeria non-oil export and grossly reduce poorverty.

NAFDAC’s agric export revitalization and quality standardization initiative will make Nigeria become agric export dependent rather than being oil export dependent in this regard as currently the case. It will avail the nation, mass employment opportunities, massively boost government  foreign exchange earning capacity and thus becoming a steadily dependable alternative revenue source,accord the nation a befitting reputation in the committee of nations among others.

The trade restriction measure which affects cashew nuts, cocoa, palm oil, peanut chips, meat, fried fish, melon seeds, sesame seeds and beans according to EU authorities was meant to compel the Nigerian government to institutionalize stringent and dependable quality control systems capable of guaranteeing persistent compliance with internationally specified acceptable quality standards in non-oil export trade  henceforth since according to them series of previous warnings issued to Nigerian Government by the Union on this issue, were outrightly ignored.

The major areas which requires urgent government attention in salvaging the disastrous economic situation are to compel exporters/ stakeholders to fulfill global trade standards as well as urge them to desist from anti- non-oil export trade practices like poor/substandard products packaging, poor labeling, insufficient nutritional content information provision,high chemical content reduction, presence of mycotoxins, aflatoxins and presence of high level of pesticide residue.

The proposed massive procurement, adoption and deployment of these ultra-modern cutting-edge technology which will comprise of numerous units of mobile products quality certification and training laboratories will be adequately provided in all nooks and crannies of the nation [36states and Abuja] as well as all Land border stations, air and sea ports. Although Federal Government funding is being sought to make this lofty initiative a reality.

Compulsorily,Nigeria deserves to be ideally and urgently placed on a competitive edge in the global non-oil export trade pedestal by ensuring that her agric exports are not made to suffer any form of rejection by importing countries forthwith  .The fact that revenue from crude oil sale has become unstable inview of its perceived dwindling and consequent unreliable status has placed on our political leaders the responsibility of finding economic succor/comfort in the non-oil export trade .

It is in this regard that the presidency, the senate, house of representatives as well as the nation’s economic managers must rise to this historic call to rescue the nation from this pending agricultural export trade doom by  effecting immediate release of funds to actualize this NAFDAC well conceived and very patriotic solution filled initiative as “it will be improper for us to go to sleep while our roofs have been gutted by fire.”

Martins Ikhilae is a Lagos based Public Affairs Analyst